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Monthly Archives: September 2014

Today, we’ll deviate from our usual topic and talk a little about stretching and fitness workouts you can do at home.

Okay so, here are some things you can do for stretching.

1- High leg swings- Here all you have to do is get good balance first, then you swing your leg as high as you can in four directions- Front, Side, Back and Diagonally to the left.

2- Next, sitting on the floor, legs folded, knees gently bent with the soles of your feet touching in front of you, now move your knees up and down, it’s called the butterfly stretch.

3- Another one you can do is, first, hold on to something, like the back of a chair, then, practice side stretch kicks, as high as you can get them, these are not swings, keep that in mind while doing them, hold your leg out straight using the chair for balance.

4- Next, sit sideways to a wall and then spin your legs around so they are pointing up the wall and your butt is as close to the wall as possible. Open your legs and let gravity do the rest, it’s kind of like the splits, but upside down.

5- Next, sit on the floor, spread your legs and lean forward, concentrate on breathing rather than stretching as you relax, then slide your palms under your leg and edge your legs further apart and repeat the breathing.

6- Last, stand feet flat on the floor as wide apart as you can go, hands, elbow or chest level of the floor based on your flexibility, hold for 20 or 30 Seconds, then turn your toes to the sky and hold for 20-30 seconds, without pulling your feet closer together, turn to the left or right, front toes up, foot flat hands placed on each side of your body for balance, hold for the count, then turn the back foot down so the ball of your foot is on the floor hold for a count, then turn and repeat on the other side. You can also do this as a standing stretch with a partner. Then you can add some downward pressure to strengthen as you stretch.

These will be more than enough for you to do to get some basic level of stretching ability.

Remember, the trick to stretching is not concentrating on the stretch, it’s to concentrate on your breathing. Why? Because you subconsciously tense that area when you do that, and then, as you relax on the exhale, let yourself sink into the direction you are stretching. That’s it, see? A simple little mind trick to improve your stretching 🙂

Now for some work-outs –

1- Crunches are always useful to develop upper abdomen.

2- Leg pulls are another exercise to develop your lower abdomen- All you have to do is sit on the edge of a bench or bed, put your hands as far back as possible without fully lying down, then extend your legs outward and pull them in, do at least 20-30 reps daily.

3- Plank is the best one to develop your core muscles.4- Now, for chest muscles- push-ups are good, start with 20 or so reps, if you can’t do them, make those 12. Remember your form in push-ups will determine the results you get from doing them.5- Pull-ups, this one will be a bit difficult to do for the ones who haven’t done them before, try working on your shoulder muscles and your ‘Latissimus Dorsi’ muscle or ‘Lats’ or “wings”, as I’ve heard some call them.6- Running- this is the best cardio you’ll get. Not on a tread mill, get out and get some fresh air in your free time, if you live near a beach, that’ll be the best place to do it, the fresh air will help you a great deal.

7- Jumping Jacks, another cardio workout.

Alright then, hope you enjoyed reading this little post of mine and found it useful. Now, stop reading and start working out you! 😉